Online Psychotherapy

With the COVID-19 Pandemic, online therapy is now the norm for people seeking mental health support. This raises a question, however, about whether online therapy is effective. Even though our culture is increasingly reliant on technology, psychotherapy has remained an In Real Life professional service until now.  I’ve been providing online therapy for two years, along with email and texting options.  In my experience, e-counselling provides an effective resource that is convenient and quickly accessed. 

E-counselling (and its various pseudonyms) is practiced in diverse forms, though typically involves an online video conference platform along with intentional texting and/or emailing in between sessions.  It can also make use of self-help resources on the web in between sessions.

There is some promising research, though truly since the practice is so diverse it would be a mistake to simply call e-counselling “evidenced based”.  Some of the best research has been done with university students, and has shown positive results for depression, anxiety and other psychological distress (Davies et al., 2014).   Other beneficial findings unique to e-counselling are that some users have found it to reduce the feeling of a power differential between client and therapist, ease the process of disclosure, increase ownership or agency when using text-based service, and of course ease of use (Cathcart, 2016).  Clients have also experienced disadvantages in that there may be a higher possibility of missing verbal cues, mistyping, technological disruption, and security breaches.

My recommendation is to approach e-counselling as you would traditional therapy.  First look at the therapist and determine if their approach to both psychotherapy and technology fits with your hopes and concerns.  I offer a free 15 minute online consult to support an informed decision making process.

Cathcart, Kellie.  A New Landscape for University Counselling Services. Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association: Number 47, April 2016.

 Davies EB, Morris R, Glazebrook C. Computer-delivered and web-based interventions to improve depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being of university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2014;16(5):e130. Published 2014 May 16. doi:10.2196/jmir.3142